


ROYAL [eng]

by LullabyForACat12



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Attempted Murder, But it's not graphic!, F/M, IU as Kim Pil Sook, Joshua finds love in a OC's arms, M/M, Modern Royalty, Suzy as herself, Wooyoung as Jasoon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25478875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LullabyForACat12/pseuds/LullabyForACat12
Summary: Seungkwan and Hansol, members of the famous duo Boonon, are realising a new album. They didn't expected the fans to think of it like a confession to each other.Jeonghan, fiancé of Choi Seungcheol, the heir of South Korea throne, receives the royal title of Lioness. In addition of having a title made for women, Jeonghan has to deal with various scandals the press publishes about him.And last but not least, a mysterious person keeps trying to kill his friends.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Hong Jisoo | joshua/OC, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Lee Chan | Dino/Lee Seokmin | DK, Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	1. Magazine #1 [Introduction]




	2. 1. "I’m just a pretty thing at Seungcheol’s arm."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why are you the one we call Lion?”
> 
> “Because you’re the Lioness, Jeonghan.”
> 
> “Lioness is female, but I’m a man. I should be call Lion too…”
> 
> “If you were from royal blood, you would have been called Lion. But you’re not. So it’s Lioness for you.”
> 
> “Even if I tell everyone who’s the real lion in bed?”

1

“Boys, once again, I’m proud of you. You last mini album is on top of every charts!”

The manager started clapping and everyone in the room cheered at the two men. Hansol was too shy to not blush at the congratulations. He looked up quickly at his partner who was cheering with the others. Seungkwan smiled at him and Hansol could not help but do the same.

“We did it, Solie.” Whispered the blond in the brown’s ear. “Our album is a total success.”

Little by little the staff left the studio and the singer, and the rapper were left alone. The room was filled with silence now.

Just before the production of their fifth mini album, _Smiling Memories_ , they had taken their first vacations since the beginning of their career (that had happened four years ago) et during them they had written few lyrics that they had made into songs as soon as they were back in Seoul.

Hansol was observing the wall before him with disinterest. He was playing with a pen and an Animal Crossing plush that a fan had offered to Seungkwan at their last fan meeting. He glanced at the singer and waited for him to notice him. Once his deep black eyes had met the lighter ones of Hansol, he said: “I can believe our vacations are finished…”

As soon Seungkwan sighed, slightly annoyed: “Stop complaining and work.”

“Don’t be like that with me, Kwanie! We just finished an album; we could get some rest…”

“We still need to write and register the jingle for the next Samsung smartphone and the song for Jeonghan’s wedding. And we have that interview for the ROYAL too.”

“The ROYAL? Nice! Jason and Pil Sook are cool!” Finally, something that could light up Hansol’s boring afternoon! He put down the plush on the desk before him and put his hands up in joy.

Seungkwan looked at him curious. “The journalists? When did you start calling them by their names?”

“Since the sixth interview. We ate together that day.”

“Where was I?”

“Probably with Mingyu and Wonwoo.”

Seungkwan nodded; it was a realistic scenario. He looked down at his notebooks and resumed his writing session. Hansol turned on his computer to start working too. Their vacations were officially over.

Working with Seungkwan…

He would have never thought, when he had met the blond, that they would end up working together. Their friendship had started kind of strangely.

He smiled while remembering the past. “You remember our first encounter?” *

Seungkwan laughed. “How can I forget. You looked like a dumb fish with your mouth wide opened!”

“Hey! It was like seven in the morning, I was starving, and your mother’s breads were smelling so good!”

A nice silence took place in the room. They were both thinking about their common history. They thought about their encounter, how their friendship had grown; the first time Seungkwan had set foot to Seoul and the beginning of their career at the Orange Caramel company ; one of the biggest entertainment company of South Korea.

“Seungkwan?”

“Hm?”

“Can you cook some éclairs au chocolat, please?”

The blond glance an annoyed look at his partner. He had cooked patisseries during all their vacation and Hansol still wanted more? Unbelievable. Seungkwan took his most sassy expression then said: “If you keep eating that many éclairs, you’ll become huge.”

“Nonsense!”

“It looks like your abs are disappearing in an alarming rate.” Seungkwan said in all seriousness while patting Hansol’s stomach.

The brown raised his shirt, panicked; seeing that everything was perfectly at its place and in good shape, the rapper realized that Seungkwan had made fun of him. The blond, retaining his laugh, peck Hansol cheeks in forgiveness et kept working. Hansol blushed while mumbling to himself.

Their manager came later that day to supervise the progress of their work. She approved the few seconds of instrumental that they had create for the jingle. At eleven o’clock, they left their studio to go pass their interview.

At the beginning of their career, when no one was interested by their duo and their company was struggling to make them famous, one magazine looked at them. The ROYAL had contacted the Orange Caramel Ent. and had asked to interview the duo. Thanks to that magazine, they started to intrigued people. Since then, Hansol and Seungkwan were always promoting their work through this magazine first.

“Chwe! Boo! My dear boys! How are you?”

Both men let the CEO of the ROYAL take them in her arms et kiss them on both cheeks. The looked at each other, amused and disgusted at the same time; they were used to the woman’s attitude.

She beckoned them to follow her through the corridors.

“Let say those vacations were a blessing.” Said Seungkwan, smiling politely. “You look incredibly good, Miss Park. Did you go to the seminary on the joy of living I told you about?”

“Indeed! It was incredible. I had an epiphany! A revelation!” She looked back at him without slowing down. “Thank you so much, Boo.”

Seungkwan smiled again at the woman who stopped in front of a door. She led them inside the room. A man and a woman were both sitting on an orange couch in faux leather; they were arguing until they realized they were not alone anymore.

“Jason! Pil Sook! Take care of our favorite duo, please.” Said Miss Park before closing the door, letting the journalists and the artists alone.

The latter took place on the armchairs before the couch where sited the journalists and the interview started. They talked about Smiling Memories, what was the concept about and why it was a really important production to them; they took a few pictures and Seungkwan promised he would send them a few photos they took during their vacations ; _Smiling Memories_ was about that, after all.

*

Seungkwan was progressing quickly in the corridors in direction of the underground parking lot while massaging is wrist (something he did when the day started to feel painfully long). He had called a taxi that would be there soon, and he did not want to miss it because he would have taken too much time.

“Do you think Pil Sook and Jason are angry at each other? Did you see how uncomfortable they were, Hansol? Hansol?”

He turned around. Hansol was not there anymore. He turned around again. When had he disappear? Seungkwan decided to come back on his steps.

After a while, he recognized one of the journalists standing in the middle of the corridor.

“Jason!”

The man startled. Seungkwan joined him rapidly.

“Have you seen Hansol? We were going down together but he disappeared.”

“I saw him a few minutes ago. He was going to the cafeteria I think.”

“The cafeteria? Thank you!”

*

Hansol was listening to Pil Sook complaining between her sobs while petting her hair.

“He thinks I won’t be able to manage a singer’s life and he said that if I quit the magazine, it’ll be the end of it… What can I do?”

The places were little frequented at this time of the day, some employees were taking care of the last preparations before the opening hour for dinner; you could hear the deaf noises coming from the kitchen of people cooking and cleaning. However, a waiter had had the kindness to bring them a carafe of water and two glasses.

The brown gave a glass of water to his friend who took it gratefully. He waited for her to calm down to hug her and say: “You both need to talk about your feelings. He seems to be worried about you. And maybe he’s scared to be left behind once you’ll start singing. Tell him that singing won’t force you both to break up or separate. Tell him it’s your dream and you need his support, not his worries. Jason loves you; he will understand.”

Despite her eyes still full of tears, Pil Sook smiled warmly to the brown.

“Thank you, Hansol.”

*

Hansol needed a moment for his eyes to get used to the parking lot darkness. He recognized Seungkwan leaning on the taximan’s car and even if there were not a lot of light Hansol could perfectly see the frown on his face.

He walked quickly toward the car; an apologetic smile plastered on his face. He did not have the time to say sorry, Seungkwan got in the car before. They did not talk until their cab stopped in front of their apartment building.

Seungkwan was surely mad at him because he had to wait in the dark parking lot for Hansol.

Hansol wanted to explain why he took that much time but he knew that if he tell Seungkwan he was with Pil Sook because she needed help, the blond would bother him until he say what was happening to Pil Sook. He was sure that she would not be pleased to learn that her “friend” had say her secret to someone else.

So he would not say a thing to Seungkwan.

The elevator stopped at their floor and they walked peacefully to their apartment door.

“What do you want for diner?” asked Seungkwan while taking off his shoes. He put them on the shoe shelf in the entrance of their house. He looked at Hansol for the first time since the parking lot ; he wasn’t angry anymore, he was watching Hansol like he was used to : warmly.

“Ramyeon?” said Hansol. Seungkwan did not looked pleased however, he said nothing. He nodded then go to the bathroom.

Hansol sighed. He looked at the corridor where Seungkwan went and decided that he deserved a break. He sat down on the couch of the living room and watched the black screen of the TV.

Since the scandal about Seokmin and Seungkwan -people thought they were a couple or something like that-, Seungkwan was always tense and sometimes, he was angry for nothing in particularly. That’s why they had take a break. They had gone to Jeju Island, Mrs. Jwa, Seungkwan’s mother, had gave them a place where sleep and they had spent their days walking around and laughing. During a whole month, Seungkwan had been like before. Hansol had thought that the blond would still be like that once back to Seoul, but it had not be the case.

Hansol was worried. Maybe Seungkwan did not want to be a singer anymore? Maybe he wanted to give up and come back to Jeju Island?

“Hansol… Are you okay? You’re really pale.” Said Seungkwan while putting the back of his hand on Hansol’s forehead. “No ramyeon tonight, soup will be better for you. Go take a shower.”

Hansol obeyed without thinking much. Maybe a shower would make him forget all his worries.

When he came back from the shower, an appetizing odor of spicy soup welcomed him. he sat down at the table. Seungkwan imitated it. The brown looked no better than before his shower. He did not say a word, did not complain about the lack of spices or the fact that Seungkwan was sitting too far away from him.

Seungkwan thought that maybe he was angry because he had spoken to him dryly and ignored him a little earlier? Humpf! Whatever! Hansol was the one at fault, Seungkwan would not apologize.

"I'm sorry I didn't rush to meet you in the parking lot," Hansol says suddenly, taking care not to look Seungkwan in the eye. Although surprised, Seungkwan replied: "It okay. I guess with our busy schedule, you don't have that much opportunity to see Pil Sook.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But it's not that bad. After all, we...”

“It _is_ that bad! You should spend more time with her, or she'll be sad.”

“Uh... Yeah, if you say so.”

2

“Why are you the one we call Lion?”

“Because you’re the Lioness, Jeonghan.”

“Lioness is female, but I’m a man. I should be call Lion too…”

“If you were from royal blood, you would have been called Lion. But you’re not. So, it’s Lioness for you.”

“Even if I tell everyone who’s the real lion in bed?”

“If you do that, Minghao will kill us. Have a good day, Love. See you later.”

Seungcheol, heir to the throne, took his coat on the couch’s arm, kissed his fiancé on the cheek then left the apartment they were sharing.

Jeonghan watched the future king of South Korea do until he disappeared behind the front door of their apartment. Laying down on the couch, he started thinking.

The title of Lioness was a real honor to have, if you were a woman, of course. Jeonghan was a man and to adapt the title, they should start calling him Lion too; however, we could not change centuries of tradition because the prince was suddenly allowed to marry a man!

Today, Jeonghan’s scheduled was particularly empty. Only an interview was waiting for him at noon. After that, he would have to get Chan from university and papers at his workplace early in the evening. Maybe he could even call his friends and organized a party next weekend.

None of his friends were from healthy families. Like Jeonghan, they were proletarians; _people of the people_ , like the rich was calling them.

But that, only the royal family and their employees knew. Until someone told it to the press. All South Korea and a few other countries had been more surprised by his status of proletarian than his homosexual relationship with the prince.

From the boyfriend almost invisible to the main subject of every paper, Jeonghan had become the person every show wanted to host. For two weeks now, he was trying to avoid every interview he was wished for; but Xu Minghao, his manager, had decided that he would do a couple of them to satisfy the people’s curiosity. Even if he did not want to do it, Jeonghan understand it; they wanted to know more about the person who were sharing the heir’s bed.

However, his laziness was preventing him from leaving the couch to dress up; his pajamas and the tissue of the couch were so soft… He was about to fall asleep when the front door opened again.

Minghao took off his sunglasses, passed a hand through his silver hair and sat beside Jeonghan on the couch. He sighed.

“The guards… I can’t deal with them anymore. They always keep me at the entrance for an eternity as if I wasn’t coming every freaking mornings here!” He judged Jeonghan’s from head to toes. “Why aren’t you dressed up? We can’t be late for the interview.”

“Hello to you too, Hao. I’m fine, thank you for asking. I’m going to dress up. I hate interviews.”

“Think about how good it’ll be for Seungcheol’s reign. And, since everyone will see how nice you are, no one will call you an opportunist.”

“I don’t care about what people say. Honestly, the Lioness has no political impact, I’m just a pretty thing at Seungcheol’s arm. Like a jewel, you know.”

Minghao frowned at Jeonghan.

“I already told you that. You will be the most important advisor for Seungcheol. Maybe you won’t be seen as one, but he will listen to you more than the others.”

“But no one will notice it. I’ll always be a pretty doll for everyone.”

“I thought you didn’t care about people’s beliefs.”

“You’re right. I’m just stressed I guess.”

Minghao pressed his end on Jeonghan’s shoulders, massaging him slowly. He sighed.

“You’re so tense! If it’s because of the interview, know that it will be secured by guards and me. If there’s anything wrong, we cancel it and sue the company.”

“Ha! No need to be that hard with them. You like my outfit?”

The auburn turns around like a princess in a cheesy movie. He asked o Minghao if he looked more like a princess doing so. His friend responded that a princess does not have a watering hose between their legs.

“We should go now or were gonna be late.”

“Let me just text Cheol before.”

Jeonghan hated having sweaty hands because they were only sweaty in two situations: when he was cold (and God knows he can't stand the cold) or when he was stressed. When that happened, he would twist his fingers in every direction and spend his time wiping the palms of his hands off his jeans. Minghao sat next to him, summed up the various stages of the interview while stroking his back, but he listened only to him partially.

The two men had been friends for a few years now, but one could swear that they had known each other since childhood as they seemed close. Jeonghan had taken the younger man under his wing when he arrived in Korea with a limited ability to speak Korean. For several months, they had had appointments to work on his Korean and in exchange, Minghao cooked small Chinese dishes for dinner. When he learned that Jeonghan was dating the future ruler of South Korea, the younger had graduated and managed to convince Seungcheol to hire him as a press officer. Jeonghan may have been a kind and helpful person, but he also had that manipulative and (too) outspoken side that could get him into trouble, Minghao was there to watch over him.

The talk show that hosted Jeonghan today was one of the famous one in South Korea. The premises translated perfectly how much the agency was rich. From the first to the top floor of their main building, whether in the lobby, the corridors or the bathrooms, the walls were black with golden reliefs. A velvet rug seemed to be enough for the room to reach the maximum of elegance and the furniture was wide, white and decorated with gold paint too.

Jeonghan didn't like being here. People who recognized him couldn't help but stare at him, and some even allowed themselves to take him on photos and videos.

Fortunately, they were quickly taken away from their gaze.

The rooms used for the filming was nicely clean, there were two red armchairs, a sofa of the same color and the walls of the room as well as the floor were white.

In the middle of it all, a coffee table hosted mugs full of hot coffee. When the recording began, the Lioness was told to sit on the couch when he was announced. When this was the case, he came forward to greet the two presenters and their previous guest and then sat down with his natural elegance on the furniture.

"Welcome, Your Highness. Can I call you Jeonghan?” ask the woman. Jeonghan smiled politely.

“Of course.”

“You know the principle of the show: the day before we publish a hashtag on social networks concerning our future guest and Internet users ask their questions using it. We announced in the previous episode that we will welcome you today. I can tell you that our Twitter almost left feathers! We received so much questions!” she laughed.

“People are very curious about you, especially about your past.” Explained the male host. “Let's see the first question…”

The four people filmed turned to a screen where questions were scrolling down. They chose one of the most family-friendly ones.

"How long has Yoon Jeonghan known Choi Seungcheol?" from _Bunnyinthewood_. Read the man.

“It will be five years in a few weeks.”

“Oh! that's a good record! How did you two meet?”

“We met first at a friends’ house. Then we saw each other at my sis… friends’ flower shop where Seungcheol came to buy some from time to time. Then we ended up sharing the same circle of friends.”

“And do you think that five years of relationship is enough to get married?”

“I think so. Seungcheol and I shared many things, good and bad, and the fact that we are always together proves that it would take more to separate us.”

“It's a nice way of thinking. Let's move on to the next question. "I heard that Yoon Jeonghan comes from a poor family. How does he end up here now? " by _HoneyLee._ "

Jeonghan expected such a question to arise at some point. After all, he wouldn't be on that set if this information hadn't leaked from the palace.

He smiled sweetly, blinked softly and thrust himself a little deeper into the sofa, then said with the softest voice:

"When Seungcheol and I met, I didn't know he was sovereign. I didn't follow the royal family's news that much, so I did not recognize him. We are together today because even if he knew we were from different social classes, he didn’t matter to him. That is why today I have the happiness to marry him.”

“Hope this answered your question _HoneyLee_! Last question then we’ll take a break: "Will Yoon Jeonghan keep the title of Lioness or how should he be named something else? He’s not a woman after all…" from _mirrorfx.”_

“The title of Lioness is a tradition far too old for me to resign myself to change it so I think I’ll keep it as it is!” he laughed a little, and the two hosts did the same; the woman resumed very quickly:

"Thank you for answering questions from our viewers, Jeonghan. We will return after a short page of advertising for the second part of the interview.”

Make-up artists rushed over the young man to redo his make-up even if it had not move from the beginning. Minghao came to congratulate and encourage him for the second part of the show. He also reminded him to be careful about what he says and to try to stay polite. Jeonghan reassured him and ignored his heart beating strongly as a worry feeling was growing inside him. He felt like something bad would happen.

After a last short advertising, the show resumed.

"We are back with our more than special guest, the future Lioness of South Korea: Yoon Jeonghan. So, Jeonghan, we did some research on you before the show to get something to talk about with you.”

“Naturally, I guess.”

“You can be seen in many photos with other people posted on certain social networks.”

The screen behind them showed photos of him and his friends, at parties, at the beach, in stores and even in high school. They were from a long time ago.

"They're all my friends, I've known them a lot since middle school.”

“Will they be present on the day of the wedding?”

"Hopefully, they will! They are all very dear to me and I would not want to celebrate this event without them.”

“On almost all photos you have long hair and your face looks more feminine...”

He hated when people said that. It was not true. People only saw him more feminine because they associated long hair with women.

“I wore long hair until the beginning of this year, I really liked my hair like that, but I neglected it and it got damaged; cutting was necessary.” He said, instead of letting his hostility show.

“Hoping that you will take better care of your marriage than your hair.”

Was she attacking him? Jeonghan wasn't sure. He glanced uncertainly at Minghao, who told him to laugh. He did so and told the host that she had nothing to worry about.

"Earlier we were talking to you about your title of Lioness and you said you wanted to keep it.”

“Exactly.”

“Don't you think that would be inappropriate? After all, you're a man.”

“Lion and Lioness titles are complementary.” He said like Seungcheol kept saying, with pride and conviction. “If there is no Lion, there is no Lioness and vice versa...”

“In this case, you will have to let your hair grow back like this, you will look even more like a girl.”

“I um...” how was he supposed to respond to that kind of stupidity?! “I don't intend to have long hair again.”

“The things is... you annoy people. All of this look like you, a middle-class man, planed and succeeded to steal the title from princesses.”

“I... I'm not stealing anything!”

“I’m sure that you have knowingly seduced our dear sovereign. Isn't that true?" she said, feigning an accomplice look. But she was clearly hostile. And wanted to punch her bitchy smile.

Jeonghan felt trapped, unjustly accused and uncomfortable. From the corner of his eye, he could see the camera zooming in on his face, as if to decipher each of his thoughts.

He wasn't going to get trapped like that.

He stood up and, while staring at the amused host in her eyes, calmly said, "Look, Seungcheol and I, it's not a manipulation thing at all or whatever. We met like any couple would, we dated like any couple would and we will get married like any couple would. Because we love each other.”

“But...”

“Excuse me, I have obligations waiting for me. I wasted too much time playing this bad game with you. Let’s not see each other ever again.”

The Lioness greeted the people present as well as the camera - as he had been told earlier - and left the television set without adding more. Minghao said two words sternly to the manager, promising him to sue if there were any bad repercussions on Jeonghan and followed his friend out of the building.

The road back to home was in complete silence.

Minghao typed messages on his phone to their friends to warn them of the 'drama' and to ask them not to tell Seungcheol, who, if he found out, could dissolve the production agency in anger.

Jeonghan, meanwhile, was thinking.

He frowned.

"Minghao, is that true?”

“What?”

“That people see me as a profiteer.”

“Maybe they think so because they don’t really know you. All the people know is that you are a man who will marry the prince, that's all. You’re like… a mysterious being.”

“How to fix it? I don't want to be hated for the rest of my life!”

“All the TV talk show that ask you to be their guest are the fastest ways for you to show up in public.”

“I don’t want to relive what happened today, no thanks.”

“Don't worry, this is the last time this happens, the other agencies will quickly learn what happened and will not risk fooling around too. I’m planning to sue them… just to scare them of course.”

Their car stopped in front of the castle’s front door. Minghao jumped out of the car to run to the other side to open the door for Jeonghan. As usual, the guards were reluctant to let Minghao come in, but Jeonghan intervened.

His coat and shoes were taken away from him, and he did not fail to thank the butler for his service.

“Your Highness!” said the receptionist as soon as she noticed him.

“Hi, miss Lee.”

“His Majesty the King want to see you in the green office. He seemed pretty bothered.” She smiled apologetically.

Jeonghan looked knowingly at Minghao who make a grimace. The green office was always used for really serious discussion. The king must have known about the disaster that had happened earlier.

Jeonghan sighed. He would not hear the end of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi ! I hope you liked the first chapter of ROYAL. If this story gives you deja vu feeling, it's because I posted it on my first account one year ago. The new version is translated way better so keep reading here please !
> 
> How did you find this chapter ?
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter (@Chatsouriant) if you want to know if I'm still alive ;)
> 
> *I wrote a short story about how Hansol and Seungkwan meet for the first time on Jeju Island. Hansol is here for vacation with his family and Seungkwan works at his mother’s boulangerie. Maybe I’ll translate it too.


	3. 2. The King's frown changed for a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, hehe :3

1

If there was one thing that Seungkwan liked, it was his routine. Because, routine meant spending his evening with Hansol, cozily on the couch, a drama playing at the TV and scented teas on the coffee table. 

So, even if he was angry because Hansol didn’t tell him he was with someone, Seungkwan had still sit down next to him on the couch and had let him put an arm on his shoulders.

He wanted to be in Hansol’s embrace for eternity but he couldn’t do that anymore. Hansol had a girlfriend now, and she wouldn’t be that happy to find them in that position.

It was difficult for Seungkwan to realize that Hansol and Pilsook were a couple. He wanted to scream at his best friend that she didn’t deserve him and he should break up with her. However, Seungkwan felt like he shouldn’t let his romantic feelings for Hansol ruin their lovely relationship. He also thought that he should have confess his feelings a long time ago, when they were still teenagers. He had missed the cue a long time ago.

Hansol tighten his hold on Seungkwan and let his head rest on the blonde’s one. But Seungkwan, not supporting the horrible feeling troubling his mind, slipped out of the embrace.

Being close like that… it was so inappropriate now.

Seungkwan, by respect for Pilsook, decided that he would be less touchy and cuddly with his best friend, letting that kind of attitude to the woman. He decided he won’t cuddle with Hansol on the couch or in bed, won't walk with him hand in hand… It would be hard but Seungkwan would not give up!

“You’re still mad at me?” asked Hansol, frowning.

“What? No!”

“Kwanie… what’s going on? You’re acting like before our vacation. I thought you were feeling better–“

“I’m okay! Stop with this nonsense.”

Hansol frowned deeper. “You act as if I’m speaking nonsense but you know it’s not true. You just got away from me! You’re as distant as before we went to Jeju Island!”

Seungkwan did not react. He didn’t know how to react.

He didn’t know Hansol had been that much impacted by his own uneasiness.

He felt so sorry.

“Hansol I'm–“

“Whatever.”

Hansol got up the couch and closed himself in his room without glancing once in Seungkwan's way.

The blonde sighed.

What a horrible day. His heart had been broken and his best friend and love of his life was mad at him.

“Shit.”

He wiped away the tears that were menacing to fall and started to clean up the living room. And then, when he set a foot in his room, realized he would be sleeping alone that night.

2

Jeonghan knocked reluctantly at the huge door of the green office. A butler opened the door from the inside and let the young man come in.

His head low, he sat on one of the chair in front of the wooden desk placed in the middle of the room. He didn’t dare looking up at the King.

The man, seating on a armchair on the other side of the desk, put down his pen and finally put all his attention on Jeonghan.

“How are you feeling, Jeonghan?” he said, leaning back.

“Not that good, Majesty. I'm sorry for what happened earlier.”

“I'm not angry at you.”

“What?”

“It's quite the contrary, in fact.” The King sighed. “When I married Seungcheol's mother, the medias wouldn’t let us breath for a second. She was completely distraught and I wasn’t better than her. You know, the royal family always had to work two jobs ; governor and celebrity. When you got engaged to Seungcheol, you signed an implicit contract forcing you to deal with all of that. However, both of you are not married yet and I’m worried that this situation ends up disgusting you from this life. I won’t be mad if you decide to not marry Seungcheol…”

“Oh…”

Jeonghan looked up. The King was looking really sad. The King was strong and tenacious ; he had been the first to defend his son's homosexual relationship and hadn’t flex under the critics. Jeonghan and him had a difficult relationship but it didn’t prevent him for caring for the younger man and it touched more Jeonghan that he would admit.

“I’m not planning to break up with Seungcheol, Majesty. Yes, today’s event was… quite unpleasant but I won’t collapse for so little. Seungcheol needs someone strong and not an other charge on his shoulders. What happened today will never happen again. Never, another show will dare treat our relationship like a joke. I promise.”

The King's frown changed for a smile.

“Well, that was reassuring to hear. I’m counting on you Jeonghan. My two oldest sons already refused to take the throne, if the last one ends up refusing too, I don’t know I’ll do!”

He laughed –one, deep and loud “Ah!”– and slammed the desk with his huge hand. Jeonghan smiled politely.

“You can go, Jeonghan.”

“Thank you for your time, Majesty.”

Jeonghan bowed to the King and get out of the office quickly.

Minghao was waiting for him in the corridor. Jeonghan started to tell him everything that happened in the office while walking in the direction of their apartment.

In front of the door, Minghao said: “I know you won’t like it but I have one last interview request.”

“It’s from who? Are they know to trick people? What’s their background?”

“The ROYAL magazine. I’ll investigate on them.” He taped a note on his phone. “Ah! I almost forget! Seungcheol want to eat with you and Chan in fifteen minutes.”

“You think he knows about the interview? “

“Jun must have told him.”

Jeonghan made a face. He didn’t like how is day was going. He would need all his strength to prevent Seungcheol to burn down the show’s set if Jun had really told him.

He sat down on the couch, closing his eyes to nap a little. Minghao sat next to him, pinching his tight to prevent him of sleeping.

“The ROYAL only has good reviews. Celebrities love being interviewed by them, it seems. Also, no questions the celebrity hasn’t been prepared to, are asked. And if you decide you don’t want your interview to be published, they won’t go against your choice. I’m planning you interview for next week, if that’s okay with you.”

“Okay…”

Jeonghan sighed, he really didn't want to do this interview. He had shown confidence in front of the king but now he felt the uncertainty weighing on his heart. He was afraid he wouldn't do it; to show himself weak and to disappoint the man who had welcomed him into his family despite his proletarian status. To have to say goodbye to Seungcheol and to see him marry any princess for the well-being of the country.

"It's time for you to join Seungcheol and Chan. They are waiting for you at the Grand Palace.”

"You're not coming?”

“No, I have to see Jun.”

“For the wedding, I suppose?”

“Yes. There's still the invitations to print and we have to go to your sister's to order the flowers.”

“You... You still haven't tell your parents?”

Minghao sighed as he left the couch. Just thinking about his parents gave him a headache. He and his fiancé, Junhui, knew that their families would have a long time trying to accept their relationship and they were greatly apprehensive about the day of the announcement.

The manager looked sadly at his friend and whispered, “We took the tickets to China. We're leaving in a week. We'll go first to his house and then to my house and we'll be back in less than six days.”

Jeonghan got up to hug his friend. He smiled at him: “Junhui is wonderful and you are just as wonderful, there is no chance that your families will refuse the engagement. Don't worry.”

Minghao thanked Jeonghan one last time before kicking him out of the apartment so he could go and find Seungcheol and Chan.

Suzy's restaurant was big, very big. It was divided into three floors and each of them corresponded to special circumstances. The first floor was reserved for simple meals and open at all hours of the day and night; the second floor was reserved for business lunches and opened between eleven and twenty-two hours; and the third floor was intended for big parties and it only opened under reservation.

Suzy had named his business The Grand Palace and managed it with a firm hand. Each applicant had to go through her to be hired, she checked the products in stock, the employees' pay and the income of the restaurant. It was not uncommon to see her walking between the floors to check that everything was fine; she was very active.

However, contrary to what most clients thought - whether they were personalities or mere proletarians - Suzy was not just anyone. She wasn't just the owner of one of South Korea's largest and most prestigious restaurants, she owned another title.

She was a countess and as young as she was, she married the title as if it had been made for her; as if generations of counties had possessed this title so that she could inherit it in turn. She had a grace and self-confidence that created an aura around her that inspired respect; and she also had a formidable business sense. In short, it was better to have her by your side.

And that's exactly what Seungcheol did. He and Suzy had grown up together and a great friendship had been born from all their days spent playing and chatting. She was one of the first people to know about Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s relationship.

Eating at the Grand Palace was a habit recently used by the bridegrooms, but they were already attached to it.

Jeonghan arranging his outfit and hid hair entered the building. He walked to the elevator and pressed the number two button.

"Hello Your Highness, do you have a table booked?”

“Yes, in the name Choi.”

“Right, follow me, please.”

The man left his post and guided Jeonghan through the carefully set tables to a more discreet corner. There, only a few tables were occupied –Jeonghan recognized some political figures. The employee left him a few meters from a table near the large bay window.

Seungcheol was already settled there and seemed to be in an agitated discussion with Chan. The young man's face went from an annoyed expression to another culprit while the older one seemed strongly annoyed. Jeonghan understood that Seungcheol was lecturing him and he would soon know why.

Jeonghan sat at the table, at the opposite of Chan and next to Seungcheol.

"What were you talking about? Your discussion looked hectic...”

“Guess who fought today.” Answered Seungcheol after kissing his hand.

Jeonghan turned a surprised glance towards the youngest at the table, not believing his ears. Chan dared not cross his gaze, he lowered his head to fix his empty plate. Seungcheol was clearly fulminating and at his red face, Jeonghan felt that he had begun to argue with him long before arriving at the Grand Palace.

Jeonghan doubted that Chan had fought against someone –the little one was a real sweet heart, but his guilty expression was screaming his culpability.

“What happened, Chanie?”

“He refuses to tell.” Seungcheol sighed.

“Do you want to talk about it later?” Jeonghan asked Chan. “We’ll talk about it later.”

Chan nod silently.

A waiter came with their dishes and left quickly.

“Let’s eat.” Jeonghan broke the silence “Then I’ll bring you back to uni.”

“Chan is expelled for a week.”

“What? Chan!”

“I’m sorry…” muttered the young man.

Why would Chan fight someone? He was such a nice child. What did that person had said to him? As his legal guardian, Jeonghan had to take care of Chan and do everything for him to live as peacefully as possible. And to do that, he needed to know why Chan had fought ; because if the school committee happened to evaluate this case, he should be able to defend his brother.

Later that day

“You’re ready, Chan?”

“I’m coming!”

Chan came in the living room, wrapped up in his coat and smiling joyfully. Jeonghan combed his hair with his fingers.

For Chan to speak about what had happened, Jeonghan first needed to reassure his little brother and nothing would be more efficient than a walk in the park on the other side of the street.

“Be careful.” Seungcheol kissed Jeonghan’s cheek then decoded Chan’s hair. He wasn’t angry anymore ; the afternoon they had spend together had got the better of him.

When the night cold touched Jeonghan’s face, he sighed happily. It was a great night to take a stroll.

The park on the other side of the street had been renovated last year ; instead of a big, dry square, they were now trees, flowers and bushes and even a big fountain. Everyone liked to go there.

Chan was looking as peaceful as Jeonghan. Maybe because the calm reminded him of their life in the countryside.

Seeing him like that convinced Jeonghan to say: “So… what happened today?”

Chan stopped walking, sighed as if the whole word was leaning on his shoulders.

“I didn’t want to fight. But they kept insulting you and… they have no rights doing so.”

Chan had patiently ask his friends to stop talking about the Lioness so badly but they had kept insulting the royal figure. So when one of them had said to him that he would gladly slept with Jeonghan to humiliate him, Chan had not been able to hold back.

No one knew that the future Lioness was also Chan’s big brother. When Jeonghan would come to pick him up, he would be wearing a mask, sunglasses, a coat and even a scarf ; everyone thought he was a celebrity or a really weak man —everything but the prince’s fiancé. And because Jeonghan was not that well liked by the population, Chan had had to hear people insult him or spread rumors about him every days.

Jeonghan his heart break. Seeing his brother like that was so painful.

“Don’t listen what those people are saying.” He whispered, petting Chan’s hair. “Even if they are insulting me, do not care. You know who I really am and that’s what really matter. Okay?”

“I’m sorry.”

Jeonghan smiled tenderly. Chan was a good kid. And braver than Jeonghan.

“Don’t be. Let’s go home.”

***

If they were one thing that Jeonghan liked, it was sleeping. And on the contrary, he hated being wake up abruptly.

“Hannie, wake up!”

“No, Cheol! It’s too early!”

“Wake up! It’s an emergency!” the prince scolded.

Jeonghan whined a little but left the warmth of the sheets. Seungcheol seemed worried and he didn't like it. The sovereign took him to the living room where he made him sit on the sofa. The television in front of him broadcast the news; a woman was agitated on the screen and it took Jeonghan a while to recognize her. It was the woman of the show who had hosted him the day before.

Jeonghan then lost all need to keep sleeping.

"Last night, the future Lionesse was seen with a young man in the park in front of the palace in an ambiguous position."

One photo appeared on the screen. When Jeonghan had give a hug to Chan. It was not of good quality but they were clearly recognizable.

"It looks like the future Lion is going to have to find a new Lioness."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter ! See you soon !


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